Skip to content
Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Primary Menu Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us
  • Featured

What Authorities Get Wrong About The Right To Protest

Sep 7, 2023 | Pratirodh Bureau

Extinction Rebellion protesters target the headquarters of Santos, in Adelaide, Australia. Many assume the right to protest is protected by law, but no specific legal protections for the right exist (Photo: Matt Hrkac via Flickr)

Modern democracies are under pressure.

Conventional approaches to politics, governance and representation are being rejected by groups and individuals who feel their voices are not being heard. People are taking to the streets or adopting other ways to protest in response to government decisions.

The right to protest, or more specifically, the right to peaceful assembly is protected under international law and supported by other key democratic freedoms, including freedom of expression and association.

But at a domestic level, legal protection for the ‘right to protest’ depends on two important factors: whether a country’s constitution places limits on making protest illegal and the type of powers given to authorities tasked with enforcing anti-protest laws.

It is easy to think of countries where both of these factors are missing.

In Myanmar, the military junta has arrested more than 16,000 pro-democracy supporters, and arbitrarily changed laws, including bringing police under armed forces control.

There are effectively no limits on the scope of criminal law and police must use their powers to uphold the authoritarian regime.

In other places, such as Indonesia, the right to assembly, association and expression of opinion is explicitly included in the constitution, but protesters remain subject to significant risk of prosecution, discrimination and sometimes mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement.

This has played out with Indonesian efforts to regulate and control the provinces of Papua and West Papua, on the western half of the island of New Guinea, which provoked protests from West Papuan communities and separatist groups.

Indonesian authorities responded by using excessive force to break up protests and passed new criminal offences, including reinstating prison sentences for insulting the government and banning unauthorised demonstrations.

‘Implied’ Freedom

In Australia, many assume the right to protest is protected by law, but in fact no specific legal protections for the right exist.

This is because, unlike almost every other democracy in the region, Australia does not have a Bill of Rights.

The right to peaceful assembly is included in human rights legislation in the states of Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory and it is possible to conduct a lawful ‘public assembly‘ in some places, with the approval of police or other authorities.

However, the ‘right to protest’ is not an enforceable individual right and can be removed or limited by other laws.

The only relevant constitutional protection is an implied freedom of political communication, a concept Australia’s High Court developed to protect the system of representative democracy set out in the Australian Constitution.

This implied freedom works in a different way to an individual human right. It puts limits on parliaments making laws that disproportionately restrict political communication (such as laws banning political advertising) but does not require parliaments or governments to protect an individual’s right to protest or freedom of speech in any way.

This means that state and territory governments can respond harshly, and often very quickly, to new forms of protest that challenge their political agenda or disrupt certain parts of the community.

We see this in climate activism, where protesters are adopting creative methods to voice dissent, including defacing artworks, planting stink bombs and interrupting conferences.

State governments are responding by imposing increasingly serious fines and jail terms.

For example, in May 2023, an activist from the group Extinction Rebellion dangled off a South Australian city bridge as part of a protest timed to coincide with a meeting of major oil and gas companies. Commuters along busy North Terrace in Adelaide were delayed by roadblocks set up by emergency services in response to the stunt.

The activist was charged with several offences, including obstructing a public place.

The next day, the South Australian government introduced changes that increased the fine for that offence from AUD$750 to AUD$50,000 (USD$485 to $32,395) or a three-month jail sentence. Protesters can also be charged with the costs of any police and other emergency services called to the scene.

These amendments were passed by the lower house by lunchtime, debated by the upper house within a week, and became law without any community consultation.

(Published under Creative Commons from 360info™. Read the original article here)

Tags: Extinction Rebellion, Pratirodh, protest, right to protest

Continue Reading

Previous Balancing More Renewable Projects & Feeding India’s Population
Next Community-led Wildlife Tourism Finds Its Niche In The Himalayas

More Stories

  • Featured

How India’s Migrant Labour Struggles During Times Of Crisis

4 mins ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Farms Turn Femme But Women Still Plough Through Power Centres

2 hours ago Shalini
  • Featured

PM Must Tell All-Party Meeting What He Told US President Trump: Congress

18 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • How India’s Migrant Labour Struggles During Times Of Crisis
  • Farms Turn Femme But Women Still Plough Through Power Centres
  • PM Must Tell All-Party Meeting What He Told US President Trump: Congress
  • Iran-Israel ‘Threshold War’ Has Rewritten Rules Of Nuclear Escalation
  • Children’s Literature Joins The Conversation On Climate Change
  • Instead Of ‘Achhe Din’, Days Of Debt Arrived: Cong’s Dig At Modi Govt
  • A Song Of Rock And Ice
  • Access & Benefit Sharing Regulations Impinge On Rights Of Local Communities
  • Making Cuts In Implementation Of MGNREGA A Crime Against Constitution
  • Tiger Death Highlights Strained Human-Wildlife Interactions In Assam
  • Scientists And Monks Perform Last Rites For A Himalayan Glacier
  • Bihar Yearning For Change But The Election Is Wide Open
  • Shipwreck Spills Oil, Plastic & Legal Loopholes
  • As India’s Groundwater Runs Dry, The Calls For Reform Grow
  • ‘US Invite To Pak Army Chief Huge Diplomatic Setback For India’
  • Politics Based On Grievance Has A Long And Violent History In America
  • How Birds Are Taking A Hit From Microplastics Contamination
  • Kharge Reviews 11 Yrs Of NDA Govt, Says PM Made 33 Mistakes
  • Upholding The Law, SC Halts Amnesties For EIA Violators, Jolts Industry
  • Using Indian Languages When Reporting About The Environment

Search

Main Links

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us

Related Stroy

  • Featured

How India’s Migrant Labour Struggles During Times Of Crisis

4 mins ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Farms Turn Femme But Women Still Plough Through Power Centres

2 hours ago Shalini
  • Featured

PM Must Tell All-Party Meeting What He Told US President Trump: Congress

18 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Iran-Israel ‘Threshold War’ Has Rewritten Rules Of Nuclear Escalation

1 day ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Children’s Literature Joins The Conversation On Climate Change

1 day ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • How India’s Migrant Labour Struggles During Times Of Crisis
  • Farms Turn Femme But Women Still Plough Through Power Centres
  • PM Must Tell All-Party Meeting What He Told US President Trump: Congress
  • Iran-Israel ‘Threshold War’ Has Rewritten Rules Of Nuclear Escalation
  • Children’s Literature Joins The Conversation On Climate Change
Copyright © All rights reserved. | CoverNews by AF themes.